ODD ONE OUT! Engaging Brain Break / Bell Ringer Game for Middle & High | ppt

Find the thing that doesn’t belong! Looking for an engaging brain-break or lesson starter that gets students chatting, debating, and thinking critically? With 25 rounds, this is the perfect resource to have up your sleeve (especially to meaningfully fill in 5 minutes of dead-air time that can often be the cause of classroom management chaos!)

This highly visual and ready-to-use PowerPoint is packed with 25 ‘Odd One Out’ questions tailored to engage upper primary, middle, and high school students (who can be a bit of a tough crowd!)

What’s Included:

✓ 25 Odd One Out questions (each on individual slides)

✓ Each with a reveal slide so you can show students the answer!

How to play:

Students are shown 4 things on a slide, it is their job to decide which one doesn’t belong! They are encouraged to think outside of the box as some of them aren’t as obvious as they seem, and be ready to justify their responses as there could potentially be more than 1 answer!

How you can use these questions:

✏️ Back to School: Use as a fun and low-stakes icebreaker activity on the first day back at the start of the year (or to ease back in at the start of a new term).
✏️ Brain Breaks: Quick, fun, and engaging 5-minute brain breaks to use during transitions, re-engaging students in their learning.
✏️ Ongoing Community Building: Develop those important relationships by using one (or a few) slides a day as attendance questions or as a part of your morning meeting.
✏️ Starter Activities: Use as bell-ringer tasks or morning work to get students warmed up and ready for the lesson or day.
✏️ Engaging and appropriate game for class parties: Need a student-friendly game for a class party or the end of the year? Here it is!
✏️ Filling in a little bit of time: Use to fill in those 5 minutes of ‘dead-air’ time in a structured way, reducing disruptions and chaos (in a way that still gets students thinking, collaborating, and having a laugh!!)
✏️ Writing task: An engaging way to get students thinking and putting pen to paper! Have students justify their answers in a short written response before moving onto the next slide!

Why you’ll love ‘Odd One Out’!

♡ With 25 Odd One Out visual riddles, you’ll have a bank that you can draw from for weeks and weeks. That’s a lot of heavy lifting in that first 5 minutes of the lesson (or the final 5!!)

♡ Encourages small daily interactions that foster a sense of belonging, community, and felt safety.

♡ These can be seamlessly integrated into each lesson without taking much time—a 5-minute investment for huge impact.

♡ It helps students develop crucial social and emotional skills that translate into better relationships with peers and a more collaborative class culture!

Yep, so much more than a silly game!